Can the Federal Reserve stay independent?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

President Trump has been on an executive order-signing spree since returning to office, with 76 so far. Today we look at two of them. Can the Fed really split up independent and non-independent roles? And what does DOGE's cost-cutting streak add up to?

Related episodes:
Slender Starbucks, Medicaid at risk, and the gold card visa (Apple / Spotify)
What happens with billions in research funding goes away (Apple / Spotify)
Should presidents have more say over interest rates? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	NPR.
0:02.0	This is the indicator from Planet Money.
0:13.6	I'm Waylon Wong.
0:14.6	And I'm Darien Woods.
0:15.8	Okay, here is an indicator for you, Darian.
0:18.8	76.
0:20.2	That's how many executive orders as of this recording
0:22.9	President Trump has signed so far. That is more than any president this early in their term.
0:28.6	He has been spilling the presidential ink. And as we know, many of these orders will be tied up
0:34.6	in court for the foreseeable future. But we want to focus on two of these executive orders as they relate to the economy.
0:43.0	Today on the show, what an executive order means for the future independence of the Federal Reserve.
0:48.8	And why the Doge cost-cutting spree is not likely to make much of a dent in federal spending.
0:55.3	That's coming up after the break.
0:58.5	There's no place like the Garden, and this season, Garden Variety wants to help you flourish.
1:04.6	Each week, the Heartland's top horticulturists, insect experts, foresters, and others
1:09.5	drop by with fresh tips about everything you want to grow or grow better.
1:14.2	Dig in to Garden Variety from Iowa Public Radio, part of the NPR network.
1:19.8	This message comes from Wondery.
1:21.8	Scam Factory, the explosive new podcast series, exposes a multi-billion dollar criminal empire,
1:29.3	where thousands are being forced to scam others under the threat of death. Follow Scam Factory wherever you get your podcasts.
1:34.4	Are we overlooking the challenges facing men without college degrees? Richard Reeves thinks so.
1:40.6	There are a lot of guys out there who are actually poorer than their dads. Reeves heads the American Institute for Boys and Men.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -28 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.